DawnClan's Legacy
by Orsara
Summary: Two apprentices new to the Clan find out they are destined for greatness. Their destinies will unwind as StarClan include a series of tests to prove their worthiness. If Icepaw's included, then there's little hope...
1. The Apprentices

Chapter I

"Hurry up, Icepaw!" A brilliant orange she-cat leaped up onto a log. She scrabbled for a moment, then got her grip on the slippery wood. The rotting tree had been soaked clean through; it had rained for almost three straight days and the apprentices were itching to stretch their legs.

"Coming!" the small white apprentice Icepaw had even more difficulty. She failed in finding a food-hold and fell back down on her rump. "No fair, Cherrypaw! You're bigger than me!"

This was true. Cherrypaw laughed and grabbed the little cat's paw gently between her teeth and yanked her up. They were, of course, supposed to be getting something done, but all of the apprentices had sneaked out of camp before their mentors could nab them for some training.

Icepaw landed beside her friend. But she was quite clumsy, and accidentally shoved the distracted kitten off and Cherrypaw landed in a puddle. She yipped and leaped out, shaking the water off as well as she could. "Ah! C-cold!"

Icepaw snickered. She was a bit rude when something like this happened. Whereas Cherrypaw, being the nice cat she was, probably would have found some ingenious way for drying her off, Icepaw simply blew out her cheeks trying to keep from laughing. It wasn't easy.

Cherrypaw groomed her paws. She did this when she was trying to stay calm instead of exploding on the perpetrator. Which she never did, being the cat she was. She got a mouthful of mud and immediately spat it out, causing Icepaw to burst out laughing. Icepaw didn't mean to be rude... she just was.

Cherrypaw rolled around the grass, wiping off all the water and mud. The two apprentices frolicked in the meadow for a couple minutes. Then they heard a cat pop out of the undergrowth.

"I thought you two might be here..."


	2. Endless Horizon

Chapter II

"Uh-oh..."

A very angry warrior stood before the two apprentices. Icepaw's mentor, Frost-tail, was very well known for her punishments.

"You two know you were supposed to come for training, you haven't had it for days! I thought you'd appreciate that rain, what with all that time it gave you to goof off and do whatever it is you children do!"

Icepaw stuck out her chest indignantly. "I'm not a children."

Frost-tail sighed. "That's _child._" Icepaw gave her a bewildered look. "I knew that..." Icepaw added.

"Com'n you two. I still have to find the others. No doubt crossing borders and lying in the thunderpath and getting themselves in mortal peril and probably killed..."

They ignored her. It was easy once she started ranting. They exchanged knowing glances and Cherrypaw gave an audible sigh. "Too good to last."

Icepaw nodded. She looked up at the sky. The last of the dark gray thunderclouds left just at the horizon. The sun showed it's face for the first time in days. It was up in the very top of the sky. Icepaw wondered just how far on the sky went. Maybe forever.

She was shaken out of her daydreaming when she tripped on a rabbit hole. Cherrypaw steadied her with her hind leg. It wasn't the first time she tripped. In this exact spot. She looked at her friend. "I'm considering filling that thing in."

Icepaw searched the ground. She kicked an ant mound over the hole. "Even more incentive not to trip anymore..."

They were interrupted by a squeal. Frost-tail was peering into a bush. She reached in and dragged out a fluffy gray apprentice. "Stonepaw, where's that friend of yours?" Frost-tail asked.

Stonepaw defiantly (and quite mock innocently, too,) "Who?"

Frost-tail grated her teeth. "Clovepaw. You're always following him around."

"He's not here. I'm no traitor. And who says _I'm _following _him _around?" she grinned.

Frost-tail narrowed her eyes. "Come on. You're going home. I'll find that disobedient little..." and she went off ranting again.

Stonepaw wandered over. She surveyed the mud on Cherrypaw's flank and Icepaw's snout. "You two fall in the mud again?" then she thought for a moment. "No, Icepaw, I guess you tripped."

Icepaw kneaded the ground sheepishly. They reached the camp where Cherrypaw's mentor, Adderstrike, trotted over. He was the deputy of DawnClan, making it a bit of an honor for Cherrypaw to be his apprentice and a bit of a burden when she misbehaves. "And just where have you been?"

Cherrypaw searched her head for a completely innocent answer, but Icepaw responded first; "Having fun."

Adderstrike opened his mouth to reply, but the words stuck in his throat and he gawked, mouth still open, straight past the nervous apprentices.

Icepaw was probably about to remark on how stupid he looked with his mouth hanging open like that until Cherrypaw choked. She, too was looking above her head. Icepaw followed her gaze.

She stepped back. Where just five minutes ago the sun was high up in the top of the sky, it was now gone. And instead of the brilliant blue sky, it was blood red.


	3. StarClan's Champions

Chapter III

Icepaw gawked. The circle of crimson enveloped the sky until it completely hid the stars peeking out in the evening. She felt Cherrypaw shuffle behind her, stepping back. Stonepaw had an odd look on her face... she expected adventure.

She seemed right. The red sky leaked out until all the normal sky was visible again. But this time it was night. In the short time that it had covered the sky it had passed several hours in a snap.

Bluetail rushed into the clearing, with a frightening grim look on her face. She tilted her head up to stare at the stars for a moment then finally looked at the deputy and Falconstar, who had come out while the sky had mesmerized all the other cats, and addressed her leader: "StarClan has spoken to me."

Falconstar returned her gaze. Icepaw shuffled backwards. "Come to my den." he said.

Bluetail weaved through the growing mass of cats and the two made their way into the mossy Leader's den. Most of the Clan watched them disappear. Then panic erupted.

Honeyflower, one of the newest warriors, froze. "The sun is bleeding! How else can we explain the sky... and the disappearance of the sun!"

Quite a few cats believed she was right. Icepaw, Cherrypaw and the rest of the apprentices settled themselves into their den. Cherrypaw rolled over. "I don't think the sun's bleeding. It never has all these years. What could puncture it?"

Icepaw snored.

"I really do think StarClan sent it," replied Stonepaw. "They've done stuff like this before."

No cat argued. Especially Icepaw, who was already asleep. And snoring quite loudly. Cherrypaw sighed. "Now we'll never get to sleep."

A shuffling at the entrance to their den drew their attention. Comet-tail, a very strikingly colored warrior, came through with a couple of mice.

"You guys share these. There's a senior warrior's meeting in the medicine cat's hollow."

Cherrypaw looked up. "Do you get to go yet?"

Comet-tail heaved a big sigh. "No. In a couple of moons, maybe." She left.

Stonepaw brightened. "Watch this!" They had been prodding Icepaw quite violently and hoping she'd wake up (she never did unless it was on her own accord) and finally Stonepaw grabbed a mouse and swung it in front of Icepaw's face. She snapped awake. "food."

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around the ClanStream for a Clan meeting!" Falconstar's voice rang out across the clearing. The apprentices rushed out in anticipation of the leader's announcement. The brown tom sat on a rock in the center of the still water with a grave look on his face. He curled his tail around his paws and drew in a slow breath.

"I regret that I have to bring this news to the Clan. StarClan have sent Bluetail a sign," he said, flicking his tail at the blue she-cat, who was looking down with her eyes closed. "Our ancestors are warning us of the great peril to come. Our Clan will die unless select warriors go on a journey to save it. We are waiting for further signs on the cats for use." he looked up at the stars. "All we can do is assume that it will bring great darkness. The sign brought the night early." He swept his gaze across his bewildered warriors for a few moments, the turned and swiftly leaped across the pool and slowly walked to his den. When he disappeared the cats began to talk again. The apprentices didn't even bother listening; they had been distracted by a cat slinking into camp. A reddish brown tom performed a very large yawn and slunk over to them, curling his tail up around his paws. "Clovepaw!" Stonepaw exclaimed. "Where have you been?! You're going to be in so much trouble... Frost-tail..." she trailed off as the white warrior slunk through the entrance. She looked extremely angry. Slouching off to the warriors' den, she gazed over the crowd, double taking on Clovepaw, her eyes wide. But instead of chasing him, she gritted her teeth and continued into the den. They could only imagine what she would do come morning.

They looked over to see how Clovepaw had reacted. He was slumped over with his rump in the air, his muzzle resting with his front legs splayed out and his hind legs standing. He snored loudly. Stonepaw sighed.

Cherrypaw went over to pinch him. "Don't do that," Stonepaw advised, "He's worse than Icepaw. He's immune to pain." She sighed as she stared at her best friend. His legs suddenly fell and he landed on his side, still deeply asleep. Icepaw grabbed his front paws with her teeth and dragged him to the Apprentices' den, leaving a deep trench in the ground. All the cats returned to their dens, all pondering StarClan's champions.


	4. Revelation

Chapter IV

Dawn broke, flooding the apprentices' den with soft light flowing through the bracken. Cherrypaw blinked sleepily. Her friends were still asleep. She stood up, shaking the moss from her pelt, and prodded Stonepaw gently. Neither of her other friends would wake up at all.

Stonepaw glanced up at her. She was a very light sleeper and tonight she had obviously been staying up late thinking about the quest. The hoped it would be Comet-tail. She deserved something to earn herself respect.

Icepaw grunted in her sleep. She sniffed the air hopefully, and Stonepaw held her breath. Icepaw was a notorious sleepwalker. Icepaw stood up, stumbling clumsily around, and sniffed her way over to the wall. Scratching frantically, She purred and returned to her nest, tripped over a rock and hit her head, returning to a peaceful slumber. Then she opened her eyes. "Oops."

Cherrypaw yawned, making the other two cats as well. Larchtail, the youngest warrior, peeked in and said, "Dawn patrol, Icepaw." Icepaw clumsily got to her feet and bounded out of the den, tripping again. Larchtail flashed the others an exasperated look and followed the amazingly pain tolerant apprentice.

Cherrypaw yawned again. So did Stonepaw. They exited the den, and, picking a juicy vole out of the fresh-kill pile, they found themselves padding toward the Clanstream. As they found a good spot, they noticed a lot of other cats had, too. Gingerstripe, a very ginger tom, snoozed in the morning sun. Comet-tail, Spottedmask and Frost-tail sleepily shared tongues with their tails splashing the edge of the pool. An adventurous kit had escaped her mother and was now swimming laps around the circular stream. And Adderstrike was poised at the first stepping stone out to the middle, like a gargoyle. His face was expressionless except for his whiskers pulled back, like he was about to bite. Some passing cats eyed him warily.

Cherrypaw bit the vole. She was getting used to the plentiful prey that newleaf brought. It was a relief after leaf-bare's empty forests. Stonepaw twitched her whiskers. "Everyone's waiting. I hope Bluetail has a dream tonight."

Cherrypaw looked at her with her head cocked. "What if it's about chasing butterflies? Does that count?"

Stonepaw gave her an amused look. "Then they'd choose Butterflyclaw for the champion."

"Who's Butterflyclaw?"

"Who knows?"

The two apprentices were taken for a double cat hunting practice. They decided to hunt together for better luck. It did work; they caught a couple more mice that usual. They brought a couple of mice dangling by their tails back, as well as a squirrel and a blackbird. They enjoyed the early evening sun, dipping their paws in the pool and rubbing some cool water on their heads. Icepaw came out of the Apprentices' den, since she had been napping since the Dawn patrol. Stonepaw caught a glimpse of Bluetail weaving through the crowd, giving them an odd look, which Stonepaw had interpreted as horror. "What's up with her?" she flicked her tail towards the medicine cat.

Cherrypaw stared after her retreating tail. "Did she look scared to you?"

Icepaw looked up. "All I see is her behind."

The two others ignored her. Cherrypaw looked behind them. "Maybe it was behind us?"

Stonepaw shrugged. "I guess." But she didn't believe that. She had locked gazes with Bluetail, she was sure it had been directed at them. But she didn't say anything. Nobody ever does when it's important.

Just then, Falconstar swooped in front of them. They realized he was leaping towards the Clanstream again, and waited expectantly for his report. Bluetail was staring again. Stonepaw made a horrible realization.

"Guys..." she started. Icepaw shushed her. _But it's important..._ she thought.

Falconstar glanced their way, too. "Bluetail received word from StarClan the previous night. She has connected the red sky with an object in her dream." he paused, motioning Bluetail over. The medicine cat joined him in the center rock. She waited for his signal, then spoke. "I have dreamed of the Clanstream. This rock," she indicated the stepping stone she was standing on, "was twice it's size. The sky flashed red, and the stream froze." she closed her eyes, and they noticed she was shivering a bit. "I call forth the champions of StarClan; Stonepaw, Cherrypaw and Icepaw."


	5. A New Beginning

Chapter V

Stonepaw's realization had proven true. Cherrypaw gasped audibly, and Icepaw gawked. Stonepaw dipped her head. Cherrypaw soon followed, and Icepaw finally realized she should do so, too.

Bluetail continued. "StarClan, I sure hope I've got this right..." it seemed more like a comment to herself than something to tell the Clan. She blinked. "Do you, Stonepaw, Icepaw, Cherrypaw, agree to uphold the Warrior Code in order to defend your Clan, perform this treacherous journey, and battle the unknown?"

Cherrypaw and Stonepaw nodded; Icepaw whispered, "sounds like fun."

The Medicine Cat looked at the sky. "StarClan, please accept these three apprentices as your champions. We will do all we can to prepare them for the journey ahead. They are late in their training so are as good as most Warriors." She looked at them. "You three do your best. Please plan on leaving these few sunrises left in the moon."

She left. Falconstar gave then a confident look. Frost-tail came over and licked Icepaw's ear. "I know you'll do your best. We'll go in for extra training later this sunrise." Icepaw gave her a devastated look. "I thought they'd treat us better, not worse!" she wailed. Spottedmask and Badgertail came over and congratulated their apprentices, too. The tried not too look at the other apprentices; Larchtail was talking to a stiff-looking Pepperpaw, and Waxpelt comforted Saltpaw, the two younger sibling apprentices. Starpaw, Fanpaw and some other scattered den-mates sat in the sidelines either feeling happy for them or miserable for themselves.

The apprentices retreated to their nests to think. They didn't see how they could save the Clan, especially Icepaw, the unstable, sleepwalking, rude and almost intolerable small extremely easy to see while hiding little she-cat (who, of course, was quite sure of herself). The slept with dreams of amazing things and woke up knowing that they could never do things. Great things and impossible things. All the cats in the Clan gave them more respect, although the apprentices still acted extremely jealous. And most of all, they didn't have to go on all the missions. They got to hunt when they liked, and they completely avoided border patrols. And dawn patrols. But mostly Icepaw. However, nearly every missed patrol was replaced by a training session. Frost-tail's was by far the worst, and Icepaw was dead tired at the end of each day, and soon she even stopped sleep-walking.

When the day finally came, they packed up travelling herbs and said their good-byes. They went over their battle moves one final time and set off to who knows where.


	6. Oblivion

Chapter VI

The three apprentices walked for some time before they decided to stop and hunt. When they finally caught a squirrel, they sat and ate, while Icepaw bounced up and down. "What are you waiting for?! We've got to go!" and the two just ignored her.

"Why do you think StarClan chose us?" Cherrypaw wondered out loud. Stonepaw glanced sideways.

"I think Bluetail misread the prophecy again."

Cherrypaw thought on that. "Maybe. But doesn't it thrill you at all? That at least DawnClan thinks we're special?"

"Yes, we're very special." Stonepaw grinned. They got up and stretched. Icepaw hurried over. "Com'n we're wastin' daylight!" she strung the words together so fast they coudln't understand her. Cherrypaw shrugged over her shoulder at Stonepaw as the two fell into a line. Icepaw jumped up to trailblaze very fast. Soon they lost track of her.

"Icepaw! Get back here!" Cherrypaw shouted. There was no answer, but instead the crazy white kitten leaped out at them from the bushes, smothering the reddish-brown apprentice in fur. Both were knocked to the ground. Stonepaw tutted.

"Aww shut up Stonepaw," Cherrypaw meowed. Icepaw resumed her position as trailblazer.

Come sundown, they had made good distance, mainly because they had to run to keep up with the little white tail bobbing ahead of them. Icepaw, for one, and probably the only one, was enjoying herself.

"WE WERE CHOSEN FOR A PROPHECYYYY!" Icepaw dragged that last word out. She was wide awake and was keeping the other two that way, as well. Cherrypaw covered her ears with her paws. "Pipe down, idiot. Some of us are trying to sleep." she glanced Stonepaw's direction, where soft snores were rising from. "Some of us."

Icepaw rolled over. The skies were being brilliant for her. She stared into the stars and waited for sleep to overcome her. It didn't. Cherrypaw was asleep, she observed ( aw, come on, give her some credit. She observed this time. Usually she'd jump on her, and judging by how cranky she was she'd see if she'd been asleep).

And when morning arrived, she started getting sleepy. They forced her up, and, after eating breakfast, they continued their journey. Icepaw flumped over on her back with her paws in the air. "But I'm tired..." she told them. They pushed her up and quietly observed her in case she fell behind again.

But what they didn't observe was the noises behind them, drooling and growling and pounding at the earth in anticipation. No, Icepaw was to distracting...


	7. Dreams

Chapter VII

"What was that?" Cherrypaw whipped around. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

Stonepaw shrugged. "Probably the wind."

"What has your mentor taught you at all? You always have to be paranoid," Icepaw stated matter-of-factly.

Stonepaw stared. "Frost-tail didn't teach you that."

Icepaw stared at her paws. "She isn't very smart. Sometimes I make my own rules." Stonepaw just sighed, and walked in front of Icepaw, who hissed indignantly.

Cherrypaw whirled around. She heard it again. Something was moving in the undergrowth. And it wasn't a mouse. "Guys!" she quietly signaled. A lock of black fur moved between two shrubs, followed by three pairs of yellow eyes. They had heard enough kit stories to recognize these.

"Wolves!" Icepaw yelled smartly. The black beasts, officially positive that their quarries knew about them, slowly stalked out of the bushes. Stonepaw's eyes widened. They were twice the size of any cat she new and their claws were bigger than Stonepaw's whole paw. Backing away, the kept their gazes on the wolves. Then, the whipped around, ready to dash in the other direction, but there were wolves there, too. The biggest and most scarred wolf let out a howl that could be a laugh.

"You three are mighty young to be away from home."

Icepaw stuck out her chest. "We're plenty old." Stonepaw drew in a sharp breath and nudged her behind her, which any cat would take as a "let me do the talking," except Icepaw. She pushed back in front.

The wolf stared. "Where are you headed?" he asked. A smaller wolf, still quite huge, stepped behind the alpha. There was an obvious resemblance, even between wolves, so the cats assumed they were related. The alpha acknowledged the younger wolf with a nod.

Yet again Icepaw spilled. "Heh. We're going to save the Clan!"

The wolf smiled. Sort of. He pulled back his lip, exposing blood-stained teeth. They noticed he was rolling a squirrel under his paws. It flopped over limply. "Now how do you plan on doing that?" he asked. There was a glint of amusement in his eyes.

Icepaw hesitated. "Um... we don't know."

The wolves laughed. Icepaw rolled her eyes. The alpha signaled with his tail, and some very disappointed-looking wolves followed him away. The young wolf stared for a moment, before rushing to a she-wolf and muttered something about cats really existing. She ushered him away.

The three cats stared after them, bewildered at the events. Eventually confusion won over, and they resumed their walking. Thunder cracked overhead and it started drizzling, and as dark clouds blew overhead it got harder. They sheltered under a fern's fronds to sleep, drips on the fronds keeping them awake. Stonepaw rested her muzzle on her paws, thinking. Icepaw fidgeted in her sleep, continuously kicking Cherrypaw, so Stonepaw didn't have to worry about Cherrypaw falling asleep as well.

"If StarClan wants us to save the Clan, then why did they send the rain?" Stonepaw meowed angrily. "We could have gotten in some more walking if we hadn't had to take shelter."

Cherrypaw shrugged. "who knows. We'd better get some sleep," she said, flipping Icepaw around so that her flailing hind paws weren't battering her. The two apprentices curled up and put their tails over their noses, trying to sleep. Stonepaw liked rain, so it was easy enough, but Cherrypaw got worried as lightning crackled overhead. It sounded close. She hid her ears under her paws and pressed herself up against her friends, awaiting daylight.

Cherrypaw sensed difference. It was still raining, but the fern above her had disappeared. She blinked awake, becoming drenched, while trying to figure out what was going on. She came to one conclusion: this was StarClan territory.

Sure enough, a glistening cat appeared. She couldn't tell if it was because of the rain or the Stars in her fur; she was pretty sure both. She had long black fur with odd white stripes here and there, and looked... was that disappointed?

"This was not supposed to be..." she mumbled repeatedly under her breath, although Cherrypaw could hear it. The cat stared at her paws for a while until she reached Cherrypaw, then she looked directly at her. Cherrypaw blinked. "Who are you?"

The black cat sighed. "My name does not matter. Something is terribly wrong." she looked upwards. "I'm sure you're aware, that Bluetail has mistaken a sign again?"

Cherrypaw gulped. She had been hoping it had not, but she was expecting this much. She nodded.

"Your friends are not. I am afraid you will have to tell them." the black cat continued. "you must not continue this journey, or a horrible fate awaits you all..." and she began to fade.

"No! Don't leave! Why do you guys always give us these vague prophecies and expect us to figure them out without any clues?" but she had already left.

Cherrypaw crouched low. She had no idea how to leave. Whipping her head around frantically, she looked for shelter. She spotted a dense forest in the distance. After a few minutes, she reached it, and the rain picked up. She shivered under a bush and tried to dry off. Then, she heard a padding noise. She saw small white paws passing by and realized this was another StarClan member. She wasn't supposed to be here. Another cat, this one brown, emerged from the trees.

"Lilacleaf, that group of cats... we shouldn't have let Poisonclaw do it, she'll get the wrong idea in their heads!"

"But they weren't supposed to be sent out. They could die!"

"Lilacleaf... I smell something," the brown cat said.

Lilacleaf turned. "Is it food?" she sniffed the air hopefully.

The brown cat sniffed again. "No. It's a cat, I think it's from the living world!" He turned around, searching the bushes and trees around them. He padded slowly over to her bush. Cherrypaw held her breath, looking for a way out. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the tree beside the cats, causing everyone to jump. Lilacleaf looked her way for a moment, but then back towards the flaming tree. She drew in a breath and turned to her friend.

"Magmatail... this isn't good. It has never happened in the forest."

Magmatail swished his tail. "Lightning has struck the StarClan hunting grounds. Unless the three apprentices succeed, there will be doom for us all."

Cherrypaw felt herself fade into the waking world. Dawn was stretching over the sky in a bright red line. The others sat awake sunning themselves in the early light.

Cherrypaw sat there, thinking about Poinsonclaw's words... " This was not supposed to be..."


End file.
